Part 1 - Why You Should Write Engaging Content

Some people say you should write for your audience. Others say you should write for the search engines.

I say: It shouldn’t matter who you write for because they both want the same thing.

They both want engaging, comprehensive content.

Google has matured. Its algorithms have become more human-like as they focus on reader intent rather than keywords. That’s not to say keywords and links don’t count anymore. It’s just that their emphasis has changed.

Solves a problem or answers a question by providing comprehensive, accurate, exceptional information or resources.

So, putting these two examples together you can see that Google wants content that is:

Hummingbird: deep, comprehensive and authoritative.

RankBrain: easy-to-read, helpful and comprehensive.

Why do you think Google has created algorithms that look for this type of content?

Because it wants to serve the best search results to those exploring the topic. And those searchers, including you and me, want some tasty content to get stuck into.

When you write content like this, you’ll make your readers and Google happy 🙂

Part 2 - Case Study: How to Write a Detailed Comparison Review

We’ve talked about the Why. Now let’s talk about the How.

When I was thinking about writing this blog post, I did my due diligence. I researched what was out there already. One of the things that I noticed was that quite a few posts just listed the things you need to make a blog post engaging.

So, I mulled it over for a few days, and decided that it would be better to show you how I did it rather than telling you how to do it.

Hopefully, this case study will help put things into perspective for you.

2. Build a Framework

Here is a sample of the framework (with heading tags for your reference) that we use for the comparison posts:

H1

H2

H3

H3

H3

< >

H2

H3

Title

AWeber

What we love about AWeber

What we don’t love about AWeber

Pricing

< Repeat Sections For GetResponse and MailChimp >

Conclusion

Our Top Pick

Quite boring, right?

But remember, this is the framework. When you add more detailed subheadings and other formatting, then it starts to take shape.

This framework enables you to write the Pros and Cons of each product and then wrap everything up in a final comparison.

We’ll come back to this later.

But first I research what to write.

3. Perform Your Research

I read too much.

Is that possible? Perhaps not?

I’m always reading articles and blog posts on marketing and writing. I save the articles I think will be useful. I’ll even share them on social media too.

But all the time I’m educating myself and saving useful background information.

How does that help this post, I hear you ask?

In a detailed comparison review like this, it’s clear that I need to research each tool (as suggested by Adam in the brief). Plus, I also need some credible data to back up my points.

For example, I’d already read some articles on email marketing that I’d saved and tagged for the future. In the post, I referred to an article by Meera Kothand. It’s one that I’d read, liked and saved for later. It's relevant background information.

I don’t want to create the wrong impression here. I’m not a walking library. I still needed to research other points.

For instance, the examples I used in the introduction of the post:

4. Gather Product Knowledge

When you’re writing a detailed comparison post, you need to make it as informative as possible.

Without boring the pants off your readers.

For this assignment, I signed up for the free trial for each email marketing service. Even though I’d previously used AWeber and GetResponse, before moving onto MailChimp, I needed access to the latest version of each product.

When you get your hands on a product:

You get a feel for the product

You can test various scenarios

You find its good and bad points

With that level of knowledge, you can provide more in-depth content for your readers.

5. Begin Writing

Here’s a question for you: How would you write a detailed comparison review?

Would you spend a day researching each product and then a few days writing the post?

Or, would you take one product at a time testing and writing before moving onto the next product?

Both scenarios would work. But I prefer the second one.

I find it easier to focus on one product at a time. I test various scenarios and make a note of the outcomes.

I’m writing the first draft, so things don’t need to be polished yet.

I take screenshots as I work so that I don’t have to go back and repeat the process afterward.

What do you write?

A while back I heard Kristi Hines speaking at a virtual summit. The interviewer asked Kristi what her writing process was. He was fishing for some secret recipe. Some juicy gem. But Kristi, cool as you like, replied, “I put myself in the shoes of the reader. What do they want to know? How can I show them.”

Simple. And that’s the stance I take. I want to inform the audience about each product and let them make an informed decision:

How do you write?

Let’s take the AWeber section from this post as an example.

When you read the blog post, you can see that I take the reader on a journey from the signup process to how individual features work.

These are divided into the ‘what we love’ and ‘what we don’t love’ sections.

The original framework is expanded to include more subheadings.

And within each of those subheadings, I break into further details with numbered sections and bullet points.

Let’s dive deeper into the ‘Creating Messages’ section, and I’ll show you what I mean.

I’ve divided the section into five parts and annotated each example:

1

INTRODUCTION

Is a high-level statement

Is a bullet-list of the three types of message

Promises more details if the reader chooses to carry on

2

DRAG AND DROP EMAIL BUILDER

Explains what you can do with this method

Shows an example of how Brent Jones creates an email message using this method

3

PLAIN TEXT MESSAGE

Explains why you don’t need a pre-designed template. And gets the reader to imagine.

Uses a credible reference from another source to back up the argument

Shows an example of what the plain text message looks like

4

HTML EDITOR

Shows what the HTML WYSIWYG editor screen looks like

Shows what the message looks like in the inbox

5

SUMMARY

A brief summary of this section and why I like this part of the product.

Here's how I've made it engaging:

Provided a quick, high-level intro

Used subheadings and bullet points to direct the reader

Used bucket brigades to lead the reader into the next paragraph

Used screenshots to illustrate working with the product and the possible results

Used credible references and examples from other sources to back up my points

Given a quick recap at the end of the section

Remember, this is just one section. You have to maintain this standard throughout the whole blog post.

Your job as a writer is to make all of your blog post engaging. To keep your readers hooked and wanting more.

6. Create Your Images

As you can see above, images play an important role when you’re writing a detailed comparison post. You probably know that visual content will help you get more page views and shares.

But a comparison post needs screenshots to demonstrate the points you are making. It gives the reader a taste of what the product looks like. And it helps make the post scannable, too.

When you’re creating an in-depth post like this, it makes sense to have an image creation process. I find it easier to take a screenshot, including any annotations, as I work and save it to my project folder. I put a placeholder in the writing, like <image here> so I know to come back and insert the image later.

Before I add the image/screenshot to the post, I’ll resize it so that it fits in a maximum width. For Adam, that’s 500px wide. Your blog might be different.

Next, I make sure the image file name makes sense.

And finally, I add a label so that Adam’s editor knows exactly which image fits where.

7. Start Editing

Editing is not a quick task. This is the stage where you can mold your blog post into shape. And that involves running the post through a few checks.

Here’s what I do:

#1 Leave it a day

Always review your post the following day when possible. If you have a tight deadline, then give yourself at least a couple of hours break after writing.

In this example, as I’m writing a detailed post covering three products I can run some first edits each morning. For instance, if I wrote the first draft of my AWeber section on Monday, then I could spend a few minutes first thing Tuesday morning to read it through and make initial tweaks.

Then leave it again. And move onto Tuesday’s task of writing on GetResponse.

Look at how your content is formatted. Is there a logical structure with Headings and Subheadings.

One of the best features in Google Docs is the Outline panel on the left. This gives you a quick idea if everything looks in place.

For longer posts, I prefer to create a Table Of Contents. This helps paint a clearer picture of the structure.

Basically, you’re asking yourself: Is everything clearly signposted?

#2 Use Grammarly

I use Grammarly after I’ve completed the whole article. Each section has had some initial mini reviews. Now I copy the entire post from Google Docs into Grammarly, and let it highlight potential issues.

My spelling and grammar are good, but not perfect. My fingers may get tangled while typing and Google Docs quickly highlights the typos. But on the whole, I’m ready to go on that front.

Using the premium version of Grammarly highlights a few issues. As an editor, you have to decide if the software is right or wrong. If I accepted all the suggested changes from Grammarly, then I would lose my natural writing style. So, remember to use your own judgment.

That said, there are a few common errors that Grammarly helps me with.

#3 Use the Hemingway Editor

I don’t always use the Hemingway Editor, but it can be a useful tool to help cut the fluff from your writing.

The Hemingway ﻿E﻿ditor is focused on making your writing simple and direct. It highlights passages of writing that might be difficult to read:

Part 3 - The Benefits of Writing an Engaging Blog Post

So far, you’ve learned why you should write engaging content, and I’ve shown you how I wrote a detailed comparison post.

But the true test of writing an engaging blog post is to see how well it performed:

Shareable: Did readers like it and share it?

Clickable: Did other sites link back to it?

Searchable: Did it rank well in search results?

Let's take a look and see if the readers and Google liked the content...

Reader Engagement

- Did readers find this post informative? Was it in-depth, comprehensive and authoritative?

Here are some of the positive comments left on the blog:

Thanks for the amazingly detailed breakdown!

Great post David packed with lots of good information.

Thanks for the terrific 3-way comparison.

Thanks for your great comparison.

Great breakdown! I appreciate all the details you offer in your article.

I've seen a number of these autoresponder comparison posts before, and this has got to be one of the most detailed yet!

Writer Engagement

- Did any writers like it enough to reference it in their own blogs?

One of the highest accolades you can receive is to have your content cited as an example by a fellow writer. Here's what Elna Cain said about my comprehensive post:

"The title alone should help you realize that this is a monster of a post and highly comprehensive. David goes into detail about each email service provider and tells you how each one works and is different from the others."

Search Results

- Did Google like the content? Did they think this blog post was comprehensive enough to answer the search queries?

When you check a few of the primary keywords for each of the email marketing services, you can see they are ranking on page one of Google:

Rank Position #2 for "AWeber vs GetResponse"

Rank Position #3 for "GetResponse vs MailChimp"

Rank Position #4 for "AWeber vs GetResponse vs MailChimp"

Rank Position #6 for "AWeber vs MailChimp"

Backlinks

- Has the number of backlinks increased as a result of the fresh content?

The screenshots below don't tell the full story about the backlinks because the URL was changed. Even though the new URL technically has zero links, Google will count all of the links from the previous URL since it's got a 301 redirect in place.

Moz doesn't seem to factor this in, but Ahrefs and Majestic do.

Here's a screenshot from Ahrefs that shows the increase in backlinks:

Traffic

- Has there been an increase in traffic? Have more people wanted to read the fresh content?

The biggest improvement is in traffic:

Comparing September (the last full month of the old version) to November (the most recent complete month) there is a 174% increase in unique page views.

That's a significant increase in traffic.

The new version now includes MailChimp so there is a 3-way comparison and the post is fresher. In-depth plus Freshness mean Google ranks the content higher and you have more chance of increasing page views.

When you write engaging content, the benefits are clear to see. Google ranks your content higher and reader engagement soars.

I'm a freelance writer working with business owners and marketing teams to create in-depth, actionable content that resonates with their audience. When I'm not writing about digital marketing and technology, you’ll find me chilling with a thriller in Spain.

I have written posts like this but I haven’t been consistent. I usually do this for products, but since I cut down the number times I publish, I could focus more on writing in-depth, engaging posts. There’s no excuse.

I meant to comment yesterday when I first went through your post, but I got busy.

Well, as usual, excellent job, my friend.

I appreciate the shout out. For the longest time, I would send out generic email broadcasts… text only and full of bold font faces and highlighting and underlining and stuff.

(Think of a squeeze page full of sales copy from 10-12 years ago…)

People were unsubscribing, mentioning the format of my emails as a main reason.

So I spent a couple hours creating a custom template in AWeber. Haven’t had an issue since.

I enjoyed the quotes from heavyweights from Patel and Fishkin. I get so tired of the obvious keyword stuffing and thirst for backlinks… it’s amazing how much further ahead most bloggers would be if they simply put their readers first.

You’ve given a very thorough argument for writing long and in-depth. Lots of things to take away and mull over. This is the opposite of a byte of data 🙂

My natural inclination is to crown it all with the kitchen sink but I’ve been making an effort lately to keep it short. I think a lot depends on your audience and what they’re looking for, also what platform they use – mobile does come with a different attention span, not sure how that fits with more complex subjects.

I’ve read that Google likes posts to be +1000 words while the Yoast plugin suggests 300 as the minimum (which seems incredibly short). I wonder if each post would be more digestible for the reader if it was split into several mini-posts that readers could choose to click on – ithat might work for some subjects, but you’ve made it clear that Google wants layers of information.

By the way, I use Hemingway like you – on an occasional basis and ready to over-rule anything it flags as an error.

Thanks, Donald, always good to know that my content is thought-provoking!

I tried to steer clear of referring to long-form content because it’s not so much the length, but the quality of your content that should matter. And depending on who your audience is and what they like will determine the best type of content to deliver. Rand explains that more in his Whiteboard Friday episode that I linked to above.

I’ve never understood why Yoast suggests 300 words – I wonder if that is some old-school criteria? There are some stats and graphs out there that suggest longer posts get more shares or occupy the top-ranking positions. But I don’t think they evaluate the content quality.

Yes, Hemingway has it moments. But as a writer, you have to overrule it sometimes!

You’re right, I do spend quite a bit of time on presentation. I try to make the content shine as much as possible. Getting the balance between different formatting and images is important when you’re writing in-depth content. It’s all about giving the reader the best possible experience.

I agree with what’s already been said, great in-depth and highly detailed post David. As always. 🙂

With your framework and the details, I am sure it will help many people create great content.

Personally I just don’t have the time to write real long posts all the time. And honestly I don’t know if I like writing “that much” to stick with it. Well, blogging is not my main biz, so I don’t count. And not like I am a professional writer in the first place. Grammarly wouldn’t know what to do with my posts. Like WTH?

I also wonder, if we give away too much content, what’s left to sell? Just a thought. Always remember what a famous marketer said, “Useful but incomplete”. Though guess that doesn’t really apply to content.

I’ve heard it both ways as well. Many people shouting long-form these days. But I also see some SEO experts in the trenches that can rank a 300 word page. Well, I guess that goes to writing for backlinks or buying them.

For me personally, I am a skimmer. I have a hard time reading every word of a really long post or article. But that is just me. Probably not the norm. Biggest reason, so much content seems to lack personality, lacks “interesting” content.

Yeah, there is a debate about long-form content. But honestly what I’m looking for is quality content, whether it’s long or short.

Generally, the posts I enjoy are in-depth. That doesn’t mean I take in every word when I read it first time. We all skim – nothing wrong with that – and that’s why it’s important to have content that is scannable. I think a good measure is that you can read an in-depth post quickly and not realize that it was long. If the content engages you, then you’ll digest it comfortably.

David, agreed with your points that to make your post stand out, it needs to have certain characteristics to make an impact. There are just so many articles published every day that it is very easy to get buried in the pile. One particular observation is Neil Patel’s articles recently. I noticed the same fact as well that he writes (or gets written), long form, detailed, research-backed and rich articles as you mentioned as well.

Great to read your write-up, cheers, going to share as well. I will try to be more regular on your blog. Cheers, have a nice and a happy New Year ahead,

Hi David, thanks for mentioning Neil’s post about Hummingbird (for some reason I missed it before). It was a good idea to read it, because I found there interesting facts about ranking web pages.

At first I thought something like “Why is this blog post so long?”. Really, I was feared that I would not finish reading it. But then I got it. Your blog post is long, because it’s packed with awesome content!

Thank you for suggestion of editing tools, I will check them. Personally, I use Reverso spell checker to get rid of some casual typos and Unplag plagiarism checker to maintain the high quality of my blog posts and avoid accidental plagiarism. Another helpful tool is Power Thesaurus, it will save any blogger from a painful choice of the best word. Love all of the mentioned tools!

You’ve spent a lot of time to prepare all this stuff along with screenshots, images and web page layout. Keep up the great work!